UADx Opal Morphing Synthesizer

[zerocrossing]

Yesterday I went out for Japanese. One dish was just raw tuna encrusted with sesame seeds in a yuzu and soy sauce marinade. Out of all the things we ate, it was the hands down favorite of both me and my wife. Sure, the Godzilla rolls were good too, but sometimes something simple that’s super high quality just hits the spot. Not everything needs to have every option possible. Go make something in VCV Rack Pro if you want everything possible.

I just don't like it. Not saying you can't. I appreciate the life coaching. Rethinking everything now.

Your life is a lie.

That hits so close to home. He he. For reference, when I go to sushi, I just want Hamachi nigiri and a spicy dynamite roll. Or scallop roll. Hmmmm

I'm sure I'll use the opal. But it's my first purchase from UAD. So what was really sad was watching my expectations hit the modulation interface.

Yeah, the mod matrix… could use a redo, that’s for sure, but it’s usable and fairly flexible. It would be better if they let you use oscillators as mod sources, or even polyphonic aftertouch and MPE…. Yeah. It’s not perfect, but what really sold me is the two filter setup with the distortion abilities. That and the pole morphing. Oh, and AM/FM between the oscillators. It’s supreme for making aggressive sounds and pads that are usually what I associate with only being possible with hardware synths.

I bought it in the end for $55 with tax.

I think it’s totally worth that, just for the quality of the filter, the pole morphing, and distortion quality. I hope they continue developing it. A few tweaks and additions and I think it could be one of the top wavetable synths.

[Cyforce]

Just out of curiosity, how cpu hungry is Opal? Compared to eg Serum or Pigments and similar...?

[vitocorleone123]

Just out of curiosity, how cpu hungry is Opal? Compared to eg Serum or Pigments and similar...?

It's pretty hungry, depending on what you're doing with it (more voices, more fx, long release times, etc.). I don't have any interest in Serum and sold off Pigments a long time ago (which sounded boring to me and was also very cpu hungry). It's one of the two least-optimized synths I have, the other being DiscoveryPro.

[Sinisterbr]

Just out of curiosity, how cpu hungry is Opal? Compared to eg Serum or Pigments and similar...?

I'd say it's on par with Phaseplant and Bx_Oberhausen (I own all three). Not the best, but far from being CPU intensive above average these days.

[Uncle E]

I hope they continue developing it. A few tweaks and additions and I think it could be one of the top wavetable synths.

UA’s track record shows them only ever fixing bugs. I could possibly see them adding features that affect all their instruments, such as MPE or something related to the preset browser, although even that is doubtful. As you probably noticed on their forum, they believe they don’t release a plug-in until it’s perfect, in which case why would they ever change anything?

[Cyforce]

Just out of curiosity, how cpu hungry is Opal? Compared to eg Serum or Pigments and similar...?

I'd say it's on par with Phaseplant and Bx_Oberhausen (I own all three). Not the best, but far from being CPU intensive above average these days.

Dont have these both (yet), but it sounds like "diva"-like

[zerocrossing]

I hope they continue developing it. A few tweaks and additions and I think it could be one of the top wavetable synths.

UA’s track record shows them only ever fixing bugs. I could possibly see them adding features that affect all their instruments, such as MPE or something related to the preset browser, although even that is doubtful. As you probably noticed on their forum, they believe they don’t release a plug-in until it’s perfect, in which case why would they ever change anything?

True, but UAD's trackrecord is also never releasing native plugins.

[vitocorleone123]

Just out of curiosity, how cpu hungry is Opal? Compared to eg Serum or Pigments and similar...?

I'd say it's on par with Phaseplant and Bx_Oberhausen (I own all three). Not the best, but far from being CPU intensive above average these days.

Dont have these both (yet), but it sounds like "diva"-like

While I admittedly sold Diva a few months ago (in small part because I felt other synths sounded better), I'd wager that Opal sounds better. One could say that Diva sounds a little Opal-like, I suspect. Diva is NOT the best sounding synth anymore, though it still sounded great.

[bill45]

delete

[twal]

Just out of curiosity, how cpu hungry is Opal? Compared to eg Serum or Pigments and similar...?

I'd say it's on par with Phaseplant and Bx_Oberhausen (I own all three). Not the best, but far from being CPU intensive above average these days.

Dont have these both (yet), but it sounds like "diva"-like

While I admittedly sold Diva a few months ago (in small part because I felt other synths sounded better), I'd wager that Opal sounds better. One could say that Diva sounds a little Opal-like, I suspect. Diva is NOT the best sounding synth anymore, though it still sounded great.

What are the best sounding synths to you now

[vitocorleone123]

Just out of curiosity, how cpu hungry is Opal? Compared to eg Serum or Pigments and similar...?

I'd say it's on par with Phaseplant and Bx_Oberhausen (I own all three). Not the best, but far from being CPU intensive above average these days.

Dont have these both (yet), but it sounds like "diva"-like

While I admittedly sold Diva a few months ago (in small part because I felt other synths sounded better), I'd wager that Opal sounds better. One could say that Diva sounds a little Opal-like, I suspect. Diva is NOT the best sounding synth anymore, though it still sounded great.

What are the best sounding synths to you now

Opal
Models 72, 82, 84
Repro
Twin 3
DiscoveryPro
SEM
Oddity3

etc.

Even the Korg Polysix synth sounds as good to me (clearly more limited), as does Hive 2. Same with Phoscyon 2in it's way. However, you'll notice that none of those can, individually, do all that Diva can do within the realm that Diva operates, which is Diva's superpower.

[elnn]

F*ck. I bought it, but it doesn't support MPE. It did not even come to mind that a new synth would not support it. Shame.

[Vortifex]

UA’s track record shows them only ever fixing bugs. I could possibly see them adding features that affect all their instruments, such as MPE or something related to the preset browser, although even that is doubtful. As you probably noticed on their forum, they believe they don’t release a plug-in until it’s perfect, in which case why would they ever change anything?

They added resizing. Double-click to reset is the next thing I'd want if they're still in the mood for adding things.

[zerocrossing]

F*ck. I bought it, but it doesn't support MPE. It did not even come to mind that a new synth would not support it. Shame.

Get on their forum and make some noise about it. I did. If enough customers complain, it might make them rethink their “if it ain’t broke” mentality.

[elnn]

I hope they continue developing it. A few tweaks and additions and I think it could be one of the top wavetable synths.

UA’s track record shows them only ever fixing bugs. I could possibly see them adding features that affect all their instruments, such as MPE or something related to the preset browser, although even that is doubtful. As you probably noticed on their forum, they believe they don’t release a plug-in until it’s perfect, in which case why would they ever change anything?

Narcissistic nasal swabs.

Get on their forum and make some noise about it. I did. If enough customers complain, it might make them rethink their “if it ain’t broke” mentality.

Done.